Messi- I Wanted To Leave Barcelona
Lionel Messi has admitted he considered leaving Barcelona in 2013 as a result of tax fraud allegations leveled against him.
The 32-year-old has been with the Spanish champions since the age of 13 after graduating from the club's famed La Masia academy.
He made his senior debut at the age of 16 and has gone on to feature more than 690 times for Barcelona, becoming the club's all-time goalscorer with 604 goals.
Like many top football personalities, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho, Messi was accused of evading tax in 2013.
In an interview with RAC1, a popular radio in Catalonia, Lionel Messi opened up on a number of subjects including how he was treated badly in Spain during the fraud investigation in 2013.
"Sincerely, at that time, I thought about leaving," he said
"Not because of Barcelona but because I wanted to leave Spain, I didn't want to stay here any longer."
He added: "I had my doors open to many clubs but I never got an official offer because everyone knew I really wanted to stay. This situation went way beyond my feelings for Barca”
Yet in the same interview, Lionel Messi disclosed his intention to finish his career at the Camp Nou.
‘I am becoming more and more clear that I want to retire here,’ Messi explained. ‘Especially for how I feel about the club. Then, as a family, [for] how happy we are here. For not changing my children's friendships, I don't want to break those. I had to live through that [when he left Argentina] and I don't want them to go through the same thing. We believe that we can stay here for the rest of our lives, to continue living here once I've retired,’ he confirmed.
Messi is arguably Barcelona's best ever player, winning numerous trophies including 10 La Liga titles, four champions leagues and five ballon d'ors.
